Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday said that “The situation between India and China in the western Himalayan region of Ladakh is fragile and dangerous”.
In mid 2020, more than 24 soldiers were killed when the two sides clashed in the region, but the situation has been calmed through rounds of diplomatic and military talks.Violence erupted between the two nations in the eastern sector of the undemarcated border in December but did not result in any deaths.
“The situation to my mind still remains very fragile because there are places where our deployments are very close up and in military assessment therefore quite dangerous,” S Jaishankar said at a media event.
India-China relations cannot go back to normal, he said, until the border row is resolved.
Jaishankar said he discussed the situation with China’s new foreign minister, Qin Gang, on the sidelines of a meeting of the foreign ministers of the G20 nations hosted by India this month.
“The Chinese have to deliver on what was agreed to, and they have struggled with that.” Although forces from both sides have disengaged from many areas, discussions are proceeding over unresolved points, Jaishankar said.
The foreign minister reiterated “We have made it very clear to the Chinese that we cannot have a breach of peace and tranquility, you can’t violate agreement and want the rest of the relationship to continue as though nothing happened.That’s just not tenable.”
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